Touchpad on Dell, Win 8.1.1, browser photo links, side panel

Hi All, my new Dell laptop will lose touch pad sensitivity and the right side-swipe panel (and clock) will appear when my pointer is over photo links on some web pages. While testing for this thread entry I discovered the behavior can even occur over simple text links. The photos are jpg and gif, I haven't tested over flash content but I wanted to partially remove flash as the issue.

The touch pad sensitivity loss behavior is like the pointer is stuck in honey on the screen and I have to move it carefully away from the link to a neutral area. Once in neutral the pointer becomes normal and a left click makes the side-swipe bar recede and the clock go away.

I'm having difficulty reliably recreating the issue but I will keep trying to set up a routine. It routinely happens, but so far not on cue.

Edit: Looking at the program bar at the top of IE, the problem almost seems to be that during regular swipes to the touchpads the program context flips back and forth between IE and the right-side swipe bar. The current window context can be seen to make the program bar on IE turn full color and then fade to transparent as the side swipe bar appears, and vice-versa, a couple of times in a second, during the swipe.

Thanks!

Last edited by daddy-o; 2014-04-29 at 19:02.
Reason: additional observation

Yes, as part of the 8.0 to 8.1.1 upgrade I kept hitting Windows update until it returned a "no" status. Then I checked in again every morning.

The best way to demonstrate the problem is to mimic a right touchscreen swipe by putting the mouse hard against the right edge of the screen and then swiping your finger across the touch pad from the right edge. The familiar tool set will appear, and if the mouse lands on or near a link it can be moved to the link and it will stop being as responsive.

That demonstration isn't exactly the problem, but it is one part of it, just not the random "hey, I'm trying to get something done, why won't my mouse work" problem.

As Joe points out, windows updates is basically for windows and that it's a must to update hardware drivers from the manufacturers website. What's the exact make/model of your Dell? Here's the link to Dell's driver support page, you'll need your service tag number to get the correct drivers for your specific unit.

The system does not do it as often, but the problem still happens, apparently at random. It might be website specific.

I'll try to pin down the timing. I'm not going to rule out operator error since it's a new OS and laptop. It's just strange, sometimes it just gets stuck in a flip-flop like I described above. The pointer isn't necessarily on a link or near the right edge when it happens either.

Funny, they aren't called Accessibility Options in W8 now. The settings I looked at in the Ease of Access Center didn't help. Any suggestions?

I couldn't find anything like mouse hover / speed in the mouse settings.

The behavior is still random so far, trying to find a pattern.

Just working along and the emphasis jumps away - as if I made a right swipe. One problem is that the browser may - or may not - interpret the click that I use to change emphasis back. No problem if it doesn't, irritation if it does and it is over a link.

The sensitive part of the touchpad does not start on the physical edge of the touchpad, but a couple of mm in. I use my middle finger and it naturally lands on the sensitive edge when I go from the keyboard home position to using the touchpad.

Since I have learned how to play the piano, I think I can work around this!

AS FOR THE MOUSE SLOW-DOWN: I think that's related to the fact that the Charms Bar is visible. The behavior stops when the CB is gone.

Frankly, there are parts of this interface that I like, tiles. And I think the mouse / touch screen balance is really good. To me a bad part is when I can't find the familiar Minimize / Restore / Exit widgets - thank goodness Alt+F4 still works! Other parts of it still need tweaking. I know there's a trend toward "dumbing down," and this Windows Secrets crowd is probably negatively affected by that - because it takes a few extra steps (after initially figuring out the new steps) to accomplish things we have been doing for years, like getting to the control panel.

A year later still an ergonomic irritation

The touchpad swipe issue still gets in the way. I deliberately compensate but don't always remember to, particularly when I'm focused on the task instead of the tool. IMO it's poor design whether software or hardware or integration.

I can't seem to be able to turn the bar off, and turning off the touchpad is out of the question.